Friday, July 11, 2008

I spent 20 years trying to get out of this placeI was looking for something I couldn't replaceI was running away from the only thing I've ever knownLike a blind dog without a boneI was a gypsy lost in the twilight zoneI hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of goldI been there, done that and I ain't lookin' back on the seeds I've sown,Saving dimes, spending too much time on the telephoneWho says you can't go home — John Bon Jovi

There is that rainbow beaming with a big pot of gold waiting in Russia again. Who will be the next NHL'er to go East?

No sooner did we put up a post on the rising of the KHL hockey league, with their signing of Jaromir Jagr, then we have another story today of a NHL player defecting to the Eastern front. This time the defector, Alexander Radulov, who was still under contract to the Nashville Predators for the coming 2008-09 season, decided to exit stage East for more money. Can a Russian defect back to Russia or is he just going home? Was he a hockey gypsy lost in the NHL twilight zone or just a blind dog without a bone?

The lure of $13 million US tax-free over three years sent Radulov packing to play for team Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the KHL. Nashville was only going to pay him $918,587 this coming season. Team Salavat Yulaev plays in Ufa, which has a population of 1,042,432 (2002) and is the 11th largest city in Russia. The team is named after Salavat Yulaev, a national hero of Bashkiria, in case you were wondering.

Note the tax-free angle again that came attached to the Russian offer. The NHL is going to find itself at a serious competitive advantage for talent if Russian petro-rubles and state sponsorship keep getting pumped into this new KHL. Who thinks that the young, 19 year-old future star Alexei Cherepanov, who will be playing with Jagr next season, will want to come West and play for the Rangers at a discount to his value in Russia?

However, not so fast Mr. Alexander "spit on your stinking contract" Radulov. The NHL and KHL supposedly reached an "anti-poaching" agreement yesterday (Thur, July 10th). So you might have to slave away in the Nashville Gulag Archipelago for another year at starvation wages before going home.

The NHL website had this article about the NHL - KHL détente. Gorby and Ronnie would be proud.

ZURICH, Switzerland - The NHL reached an agreement with a new Russian hockey league Thursday that temporarily ends the threat of players being lured away by big-money offers.

The pact to respect player contracts across all borders followed offers made last month by teams in Russia's Continental Hockey League - which begins play in September - to entice Evgeni Malkin out of the final year of his deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It was reached at a meeting of the NHL, the NHL Players' Association and international hockey leagues in Zurich, the home of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Players' union director Paul Kelly said all parties recognized the need for "clear respect between leagues."

The deal was brokered with Russian league founder Alexander Medvedev, who had given his teams a green light to approach players like Malkin...

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But, remember that one of Ronnie's favorite sayings when dealing with the Russian was: "trust, but verify."

CBC Sports had the Radulov story:

Predators' Radulov tests NHL, Russian pact -- Alexander Radulov has told a Russian media outlet he has signed a contract with club Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the Continental Hockey League, but his ability to leave the NHL's Nashville Predators may not be clearcut...

Radulov is due to make just under $1 million US in 2008-09 with Nashville, but as a potential restricted free agent after that season figured to be in the running to fetch a much more lucrative offer with another productive campaign.

The timing of Radulov's declaration is curious, at best.

Ufa is one of a number clubs in the former Russian Super League that will join with teams in Belarus, Latvia and Kazakhstan to play in a reformed league, known as the KHL in Russia.

On Thursday, it was announced the NHL, KHL and International Ice Hockey Federation had reached an agreement that leagues would respect existing player contracts regardless of borders.

So for now the KHL will be playing like the old AFL to the NHL's old NFL. And then Joe Willie from Beaver Falls, PA came along and signed with the Jets in 1965 for the princely sum of $400,000 and the rest is history.

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ICINGS:

Fame is calling... and so are the Russians.

Anyway if we can't beat the Russians, maybe we should join them.

Does this KHL league have team jerseys for sale yet? Wonder what a Salavat Yulaev jersey goes for? Buying one would be a good inflation hedge against the falling US dollar.

Now if you want to be the next MSG sensation follow these instructions. First, you should buy a KHL team jersey, anything from the league would work, and wear it to every Rangers home game. A cossack coat would be another option. Also buy and wear a Russian Cossack fur cap. We'll have to skip the sabre, probably can't get that into the Garden.

Next, every time a Russian, preferable a Rangers' Russian, touches the puck on Garden ice go ahead and cheer in Russian. Now if a Rangers' Russian scores a goal jump up in your aisle and do a Russian kick dance, something like the following:

If the Russians aren't scoring then dance every chance you get. It will be a long season. You could also bring a bunch of your pals to MSG to perform. Do a group dance:

Dancin' Larry who?

Lastly, make sure to give yourself a name like the 'Cossack Kid' or the 'Section 322 Nutcrackers.' If you make it big you owe the Ranger Pundit a dinner at the restaurant of his choice.

4
comments:

down by the seaside
said...

So we cut payroll, losing Jagr and Avery in the process, after failing again to get out of the second round and Dolan-Sather decide that's worthy of a ticket price increase? Consider my season tickets now a half-year plan, 'cause i'm going to dump half of them. What a joke!

I already had a title for a future article on this very subject queued up in my keppe. It's called "Pump & Dump"

Basically, the MSG Mgmt is running a "pump and dump" operation. Similar to a stock scam. The Maven and all his MSG brethren are "pumping up" the prospects of the Rangers for this coming season touting how great all these new acquisitions will help the team. The in the harsh reality of the season the team "dumps" a stinker on us.

I really hope I'm wrong, but Renney has to rebuild and reload all at the same time. As Mike has pointed out that's what its all going to come down to -- coaching. And getting all these new parts working together - very tricky and lots of room for missteps. It will be interesting.

Yeah, the importance of the coaching this year cannot be overstressed. So many players to be evaluated, and then to figure out where they belong. I mean yes, every team has to do it, but being a Ranger fan this upcoming season feels very different, at least to me, from any in recent memory. Excitement with trepidation. I've been second-guessing myself silly these last two weeks!

The ability to make sound decisions without too many false steps, and to set the tone of what is expected on the '08-'09 Rangers early on...that's what I hope the coach can do this year. I'm just coaching from the couch, but that's what I want to see.

The Ranger Pundit

I'm Mike Savino, the Ranger Pundit. I have been a NY Rangers fan since the 1937 - 1938 season. The first game I saw in person was in 1943 against the Blackhawks. My biggest disappointment was the '49-50 season and our loss to the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals.